Financial Technology, Data, and Analytics

Dear Clients and Friends,

Our latest report – found below – contains an update on m&a deals, values and trends in the dozen+ segments of the information industry that we follow and sometimes lead. Please see below for our July M&A Market Update.

One of the trends you will notice is the continuation of cross-border m&a transactions – especially in the Fintech, Marketingtech and Infotech arenas. That trend has been good for much of the world – as innovations and improved efficiency have brought benefits to many – and many US and international firms have expanded beyond their native borders.

Cross-border trade, and by extension cross-border tech m&a, is a big part of our business. Over the past 15 years, we’ve worked with buyers, sellers and investors in 27 countries. We’ve had a few transactions get reviewed for perceived national security reasons or because of concerns related to transfers of sensitive technology. But by and large the policies in place have fostered robust cross-border deals – in every direction – for years. So anything that impacts the free movement of people, goods, currencies, technologies – or transactions is important to us. Right now, in spite of the rhetoric in the news, we’re cautiously optimistic about the future.

We’re certainly not averse to a periodic review of international trade pacts, as long as those reviews are conducted quickly with a bias towards open markets – with adequate protections for things such as worker safety, intellectual property, and privacy. And the new US administration has certainly approached these reviews aggressively – albeit with a seeming focus more on trade imbalances than anything else. They have withdrawn the US from final negotiations on the Trans Pacific Partnership (“TPP”) and the new T-TIP with the EU seems dead. Those actions give us pause – especially with the future for NAFTA and other trade agreements also seemingly in question. This climate of uncertainty – and focus on trade imbalances has already made a few buyers and investors nervous. But most seem to believe – as we do – that those trying to foster an “America First” Policy that is reasonably enlightened are likely to soon realize the long-term benefits of open international trade agreements to US employees, employers, consumers – and to a growing, prosperous, innovative, productive an inclusive global society. We hope…

Some of the more interesting deals of this month can be found below:

• GTCR agreed to acquire Sage Payment Solutions from The Sage Group (LSE:SGE) for $260mm,
• Insight Venture Partners (New York, NY) agreed to acquire Zyme from Susquehanna Growth Equity for $100mm,
• Euronext (ENXTPA:ENX) acquired a 90% stake in FastMatch for $153mm,
• Addepar (Mountain View, CA) raised $140mm in a Series D funding round co-led by existing investor Valor Equity Partners and new investors Eight Partners and Harald McPike,
• Fiserv (NASDAQ:FISV) agreed to acquire Monitise for $52mm,
• OPAP (Metochiou, Cyprus) agreed to acquire Neurosoft (BIT:NRST) for $38.3mm,
• Investment Metrics received a significant equity investment from Resurgens Technology Partners and HarbourVest Partners. Marlin & Associates acted as exclusive strategic and financial advisor to Investment Metrics,
• Vela (New York, NY) acquired OptionsCity for an undisclosed sum. Marlin & Associates as exclusive strategic and financial advisor to OptionsCity.

We were recently honored with a few industry awards, including M&A Cross-Border Deal of the Year Award for acting as exclusive strategic and financial advisor to Xignite from The M&A Advisor. We were also honored with the 2017 Boutique Investment Banking Firm Of The Year (US), 2017 Gamechanger of The Year (Ken Marlin), and 2017 TMT Advisory Firm of the Year (US) by the ACQ5 Global Awards. We work hard to help our clients achieve their long-term strategic goals and it is always a pleasure to have this hard work be recognized.